GOLD2023

Women & Children's Free Restaurant & Community Kitchen

aka WCFR   |   Spokane, WA   |  www.wcfrspokane.org

Mission

Women & Children's Free Restaurant is a vital safety-net that fills nutritional gaps for women and children in need while fostering dignity and respect, both within our Restaurant and in the community.

Ruling year info

1994

Executive Director

Lisa Diffley

Main address

1408 N. Washington

Spokane, WA 99201 USA

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EIN

91-1399742

NTEE code info

Congregate Meals (K34)

Single Organization Support (K11)

Nutrition Programs (K40)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Restaurant Meals

The Restaurant typically serves dinners restaurant-style on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, lunch on Fridays, and provides take-out meals and a selection of fresh produce and dairy products. During the pandemic, we have shifted our services to provided meals and groceries curbside.

Population(s) Served
Women and girls
Children and youth

This unique meal program expands our reach and complements the services of other community organizations that serve our target population. We partnered with 29 other nonprofits in 2019; collaborating with agencies such as Volunteers of America, Transitions, Catholic Charities, Vanessa Behan, YWCA and others.

Population(s) Served
Women and girls
Families

We teach families to improve their physical and financial health through nutrition education, cooking skills, and how to stretch limited food dollars. Nutrition Essentials is designed to equip women and children with knowledge and resources designed to improve their overall health and reduce the risk of preventable diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Support includes cooking workshops and goal setting for women’s health, and the health of their families.
Students receive recipes and fresh food at each class. The program is offered in collaboration with WSU’s Food $ense program, and we receive hands-on support from WSU nursing students.

Population(s) Served
Women and girls
Children and youth

Where we work

Awards

AGORA Award 2017

Greater Spokane, Inc.

AGORA Award 2009

Greater Spokane, Inc.

Affiliations & memberships

Nonprofit Association of Washington 2022

Washington Food Coalition 2022

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of volunteers

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Women and girls, Boys, Homeless people, Low-income people, Working poor

Related Program

Restaurant Meals

Type of Metric

Other - describing something else

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of organizational partners

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Homeless people, Low-income people, At-risk youth, Women and girls, LGBTQ people

Related Program

Restaurant Meals

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Decreasing

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    We serve women, children, teens, seniors, and shelter residents. 100% of our clients self-report as being low income with the majority reporting as extremely low income.

  • How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

    Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Suggestion box/email, social media platforms,

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    In response to multiple requests for proteins, dairy, and fresh produce, we secured a WSDA grant to purchase these foods for our clients.

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

  • How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

    Asking for feedback allows our clients to have a strong voice in their needs regarding nutrition and their personal health.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback,

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,

Financials

Women & Children's Free Restaurant & Community Kitchen
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Women & Children's Free Restaurant & Community Kitchen

Board of directors
as of 01/31/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Charlotte Nemec

Canopy Credit Union

Term: 2022 - 2023

Charlotte Nemec

Canopy Credit Union

Kimberly Thielman

Asuris Northwest Health

John Bjorkman

Arden Tree Farms

Lisa Diffley

WCFR

Marci Miller

Numerica

Jennifer Lehn

Self-Employed

Diane Paxton

DDS

Wendy Newman

AgWest Farm Credit

Amanda Landreth

STCU

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 1/31/2023

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 03/02/2022

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
Policies and processes
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.